Sidelined
by D1SS1DENT
Summary: Oneshot: A day in the life of the underappreciated Kelly Chambers.


"I've never really had to cook for anyone before," John laughed as he stood beside her, carefully watching her strain the pasta.

"Well," she flashed a perfect smile "This is the simple stuff, probably the easiest dish that you're going to make. Didn't your mother ever teach you how to impress a woman Commander?"

"Growing up on ships meant we never really had to learn how to cook for ourselves I guess. Come to think of it I don't think I've ever made a home cooked meal," he shrugged "Not really a skill I ever needed up till now."

"It's never too late to start Commander," she turned to face him "Now the next part is important, so I need you to pay close attention okay? Can't have you burning the kitchen down when you try this for yourself."

"It's just Shepard, Kelly," his face softened as he leant over her shoulder, peering down upon mysteries of the culinary world.

/

"You have a new message at your terminal Shepard," Kelly quipped as he strode past, the odd smell of fuel and ash wafting in his wake.

"What the hell happened?" she cried, when she finally gazed up at him; a bit of smoke wafting from his scorched hair, and an eyebrow missing.

Garrus sighed as he pondered past "We let him drive."

/

From: Kelly Chambers

Subject: Your Cooking

Thought we'd start you off with something simple for your first venture John.

Grilled Cheese:

Two slices of Bread (White Preferably)

Cheddar Cheese

Butter

.

Butter both sides of the bread, put slices of cheddar cheese in between the bread. Add to frying pan, cook till brown, and flip. Even you can't blow it.

PS. If Gardner has any Havarti in the fridge, throw some in with the cheddar, it'll taste heavenly. The Havarti will be labelled (It's white). Impress me.

/

It tastes like charcoal, but she keeps what she likes to think of as her winning smile, plastered across her face. Shepard eyes her carefully, cautiously, worriedly, as she takes each bite. Every now and then she'll find a little refuge of actual cooking hidden beneath the disastrous conflagration that was Shepard's first attempt at a grilled cheese sandwich.

Even you couldn't blow it, she thinks bitterly, as she reaches for her glass of water, filled again by a sympathetic Gardner who has been suppressing a laugh in the corner. Chakwas has been watching her carefully from the Med Bay, standing by just in case John manages to give her food poisoning with the simplest recipe in the universe.

She swallows down the last of the grilled cheese, and for the first time, a genuine smile crosses her face, it is one of relief.

"So how was it?" he asks her hopefully, rubbing his oven mitts together.

"I'll have to admit Shepard, I've had a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches, but that part at the end there, that last bite has never been quite as satisfying," she says cheerfully, not wanting to dissuade him from continuing.

"That good huh?" he smiles back at her "Just wait a second, I think I'm really getting the hang of this, let me make you another."

The colour drained from Kelly's face as she stuttered "You're too kind John."

/

She knew right away who had sent it to her, didn't even have to look at the tag, before she removed the wrapping. The Cooking Renaissance, a Guide to Mediterranean Cuisine peeked back at her from beneath the shredded paper, price tag and all. Brand new from the Citadel no doubt.

"EDI, what's the present location of John?"

"Commander Shepard is currently in Miss Lawson's office."

"Thank you EDI," Kelly replied as she strode into the elevator, clutching her present, a wide grin plastered across her face.

"To a wonderful friend," Patel said aloud as she read the discarded tag.

/

She was still arranging plates when he had strode in on her, certainly in far better shape than his last outing in the Hammerhead, but regrettably early nonetheless.

She'd spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen, having convinced Gardner to leave with a small bribe of brandy and a push in Chakwas' direction. Hours later and a few chapters of her new cookbook had done the trick.

Everything was perfect.

She'd prepared a three course meal, gotten a hold of a bottle of champagne during her last visit to the Citadel, and even managed to light a few candles here and there to set the mood.

"Kelly, what have you been doing?" John asked, peering around his room, now significantly cleaner.

"Well I knew you'd need a little help with the cooking," she laughed as she turned to face him "So I thought I'd give you a little helping hand."

"How did you know?" he beamed back at her "You have no idea how great this is, this'll really knock her right out. Cookings really not my thing, I'm afraid I'll have to leave that skill to Gardner. Don't think I was really impressing anyone with my cooking."

Gabby, Ken and Joker would have to agree, following the grilled cheese incident, they'd been his guinea pigs for spaghetti. They'd all received food poisoning as a result. Kelly shuddered at the memory

"I don't know how to repay you."

"Well," she grinned back "I could think of a few things, but hold that thought, I need to run back downstairs and grab a few little extras, and we'll be set."

"Sure thing, I'll get cleaned up. Not going to be impressing anyone in armour," he smirked, wiping at a few scuffs of grime.

She turned to give him a wide grin "I'll be right back with some forks, don't you go anywhere."

/

"You're not getting out here Kelly?" Miranda inquired behind her.

Kelly gazed quizzically back at her, funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you.

"No, just have to run a few things up to Shepard; do you need to speak to him?"

"He invited me up to his quarters for dinner," was her curt response.

"Oh."

/

Kelly suppressed tears as she wandered through CIC, past Hadley and Rolston and Matthews, Patel and Hadley; as she made her way silently towards the cockpit.

She tumbled into the small fold out chair that she had kept specifically for times like these.

Joker turned his chair towards her, a wide grin on his face "You know, I'll never get tired of this chair."

She suppressed a smile, gazing back at him forlornly "Do you ever feel unappreciated Jeff?"

"All the time, all the time..."

And so we go.

/

**I've always felt kind of bad for Kelly, she's been kind of pushed off to the sidelines with a number of other characters, yet personally she was one of my favourites in Mass Effect 2. That and the fact that This is Wonderland was a great show (Kelly's VA Cara Pifko was the main character). Hoping to do a few more of these based on the response. Just whipped this up in half an hour as practice for back to school. Let me know what you think, criticism is always welcome. Thanks for all your support, and keep writing great stories everyone!**

**I want to do a Chakwas story next, anyone got any prompts for that?**


End file.
